Chapter Summaries

After four and a half years apart, Xiluo reunited with Alicia and Koraman outside Niro City, where Koraman challenged him to a duel and was decisively defeated. Koraman regained his resolve after Alicia and Xiluo comforted him, just as another dragon arrived.

• Alicia and Koraman waited outside Niro City while three Descenders went to tell Xiluo they had arrived.
• Xiluo recognized the message, then flew to meet Alicia and Koraman; the Red Dragon Whelp and Little White Dragon followed.
• Xiluo and Alicia greeted each other warmly, while Koraman challenged Xiluo to a duel and began attacking with spells.
• Xiluo intercepted Koraman's spells and knocked him aside when Koraman charged, leaving Koraman defeated.
• Xiluo and Alicia reassured Koraman, who vowed to keep improving and defeat Xiluo someday.
• A dragon with ice-blue skin and gray-black armor rushed toward the three dragons.

Alicia and Koraman reunited with Xiluo, Gordon, Allen, and Abel in Niro City, where Koraman repeatedly challenged the others and lost. Xiluo welcomed Alicia and Koraman into his domain, and four months later he had gathered the Tornado Pearls and Conch Stone he needed.

• Xiluo brought Alicia and Koraman to Niro City, where they met Gordon and Abel and learned how Xiluo had taken control of the city.
• Alicia met Lady Alice and praised the peaceful relationship between humans and dragons, while Koraman grew jealous of Xiluo's standing and his bond with Alicia.
• Koraman challenged Gordon and lost badly, then later challenged Abel and lost again; Alicia comforted him after both defeats.
• Alicia and Koraman joined Xiluo's group for annual wages, but Koraman grew angry after learning Allen and Abel earned more and was beaten again.
• Four months passed as Niro City flourished, and Xiluo gathered the Tornado Pearls and Conch Stone he needed.

Xiluo tested the new [Elemental Control] ability gained after his Thunderfall Dragon and Storm Dragon bloodlines both surpassed 50%, then investigated reports of an undead army in the Tate Mountain Range. He discovered Abela and Crasson Meister preparing to seize Niro City and returned to warn Bishop Xiwel.

• Xiluo reached level 13 after spending thousands of gold coins on bloodline mutations and gained [Elemental Control], which let him shape his bloodline elements within fifty meters.
• Abela and Crasson Meister killed an adventurer who discovered their undead army in the Tate Mountain Range and discussed finishing their forces so they could reclaim the lordship.
• The slain adventurer posted a warning on the [Astral Realm] forum, and Long-haired Hunk brought the report to Xiluo, who promised him ten gold coins.
• Xiluo flew to the Tate Mountain Range and spotted an undead Titan Ape, Abela, Crasson Meister, and Green, concluding that they threatened Niro City.
• Xiluo returned to Niro City and told Bishop Xiwel that an undead attack might be coming.

Xiluo led an army from Niro City to attack the undead in the Tate Mountain Range and used his storm powers to devastate them. After his lightning drove the enemy leaders into a cave, Xiluo entered a fel-corrupted state and launched a Thunder Spear at the Undead Titan.

• The High Priestess joined Xiluo’s call to arms, and nearly a thousand soldiers, Clerics, Beastmen, Descenders, and dragons assembled to march on the Tate Mountain Range.
• Xiluo flew ahead and summoned magical storms, striking down undead while the Spellcaster and Warrior sought shelter in a cave.
• The arriving army and dragons watched in astonishment as Abel revealed that Xiluo possessed a Storm Dragon bloodline as well as his Thunderfall Dragon bloodline.
• Xiluo judged that his lightning attacks were too slow and costly, then entered a fel-corrupted state and grew more powerful.
• Xiluo hurled a lightning-wreathed Thunder Spear toward the Undead Titan.

Xiluo defeated Abela and drove Kelason into hiding after battling their undead forces, then pursued the spellcaster to his army. The chapter ended with Xiluo exposing Kelason disguised as a rock and trapping him in lightning.

• Xiluo fought the undead Titan Ape and the undead horde, then killed Abela with his Fel Lightning Storm Breath.
• Kelason fled into the shadows as the mountain collapsed, revealing a deep hollow and a mysterious call that urged Xiluo to come closer.
• Xiluo ended his Fel Transformation and chased Kelason while his army, led by Alicia and Xiwel, surrounded the mountain and fought the fleeing undead.
• Kelason used Fear Spell to confuse the Descenders and disappeared into the crowd after Xiluo offered a hundred Gold Coins for his capture.
• Xiluo spotted a washbasin-sized rock, revealed Kelason hiding inside it, and trapped him beneath his lightning-wreathed claw.

Xiluo defeated the undead Spellcaster and led a group to investigate a strange voice beneath the mountain, where they uncovered two Alchemical Titans guarding a stone gate. The voice claimed to be a Divine-Chosen Dragon named Galle Rain, a Death God Black Dragon who worshiped Yeg.

• Xiluo crushed the level 14 undead Spellcaster, and Bishop Xiwel learned that Xiluo had also eliminated Abela and the other enemies.
• Xiluo led Gordon, Allen, Abel, Alicia, Koraman, and Bishop Xiwel to a collapsed hollow after several dragons heard a voice calling to them.
• Xiluo struck a buried pillar with an iron spear, revealing two level 16 Alchemical Titans that attacked and caused the ground to collapse.
• Xiluo caught Alicia as she fell, then the group heard the voice explain that the Titans were lifeless guardians whose master had left.
• Xiluo rejected the voice's promises of knowledge and treasure, and the speaker revealed that he was Galle Rain, a Divine-Chosen Dragon and Death God Black Dragon who worshiped Yeg.

Xiluo considered turning his companions into Divine-Chosen Dragons and asked Galle Rain how he had become one. After Galle Rain demanded proof of their ability, Xiluo attacked an Alchemical Titan but had to use dozens of iron spears before destroying it.

• Xiluo challenged Galle Rain to prove he worshipped Yeg, and Galle Rain cursed Chauntea until the dragons accepted his claim.
• Galle Rain offered wealth, secrets, and spell knowledge in exchange for being freed, but Xiluo judged his offers unconvincing and asked about becoming a Divine-Chosen Dragon.
• Xiluo asked Gordon, Allen, Abel, Alicia, and Koraman if they would become Divine-Chosen Dragons, and Koraman and the Red Dragon Whelp agreed.
• Galle Rain explained that a dragon needed to worship a god and find a way to speak with that god alone, but withheld the method until Xiluo proved his ability.
• Xiluo hurled Thunder Spears at an Alchemical Titan, adapting when it began blocking his attacks, and destroyed it after exhausting more than eighty iron spears.

Xiluo destroyed the remaining Alchemical Titans and questioned Galle Rain about becoming a Divine-Chosen Dragon, learning the Reaper’s trials and the danger that had left Galle’s soul sealed behind the stone doors. The wyrmlings agreed to verify Galle’s claims before releasing him, and Allen volunteered to try contacting the Reaper.

• Xiluo destroyed both Alchemical Titans, collected valuable materials worth at least 500 gold coins, and pressed Galle Rain for information about speaking with a god.
• Galle explained how he had pleased the Reaper and described the nine trials; Xiluo recognized that Galle was stuck on the sixth trial because killing a Lich required finding its Phylactery.
• Abel revealed that Xiluo secretly ruled Niro City, which could make some of the Reaper’s trials easier, while Galle mocked Abel for boasting about Xiluo’s achievements.
• Galle told Xiluo that a Divine Favored of the Storm God, transformed into a Thunderstorm Titan, had destroyed his body and sealed his indestructible soul behind the stone doors.
• Xiluo decided the dragons should verify Galle’s claims before releasing him, and Allen volunteered to try contacting the Reaper.
• Xiluo began drawing the Reaper’s holy symbol, but Alicia corrected his poor attempt and completed it.

Xiluo and the wyrmlings gained the God of Death’s attention through Allen, who learned he could become a Divine-Chosen Dragon by completing trials, while Xiluo rejected that path to protect the Mystery Sea. After sealing Galle Rain beneath the mountain, the dragons returned to Niro City, where Xiluo announced Abela’s betrayal and confiscated surprisingly little wealth before the group turned to discussing faith.

• Xiluo and the wyrmlings repeatedly sacrificed beasts through the Death God’s holy emblem until Allen entered a mental audience with the God of Death.
• Allen reported that the God of Death would let him pursue divine trials despite knowing his thoughts, but Xiluo decided against becoming a Divine-Chosen Dragon because the god might learn about the Mystery Sea.
• The wyrmlings refused to release Galle Rain, then buried and sealed the stone door after he threatened them.
• Crasson Meister, now inhabiting an undead monster wolf, left the Tate Mountain Range determined to find the Ring of Desire.
• Xiluo returned to Niro City, announced that Abela had betrayed the city, and supervised the confiscation of Abela’s property, which yielded only 135 gold coins.
• Xiluo and the other dragons gathered to consider which god they might worship, after finding only 480 gold coins’ worth of belongings in Abela’s and Crasson Meister’s Spatial Rings.

Xiluo helped Allen test the Reaper’s trials and learned they could be completed in any order, while the young dragons pursued different gods. The chapter ended with Gordon gaining the War God Tempus’s divine favor and renewing his rivalry with Xiluo.

• Xiluo asked the young dragons which gods they intended to worship: Gordon chose the War God, Abel chose the Goddess of Wealth, Koraman chose Shar, and Alicia chose Eilistraee.
• Xiluo and Allen slaughtered a thousand hares at the Wild Rabbit Farm, completing a Reaper trial and learning that the trials could be done in any order.
• Allen told Xiluo that the remaining trials required seizing five thousand souls from demons and devils, spending five hundred years in a self-built tomb, and creating a legendary tale of death that would be recorded in history.
• Xiluo planned to investigate wealthy Potion of Life users, while Allen was sent to the Cemetery to begin his gravekeeping life.
• Gordon announced that Tempus had granted him divine favor after he fought soldiers at the Military Camp, and he vowed to surpass Xiluo.

Xiluo supported the five dragon whelps as they received divine trials, using his influence to make several of their tasks easier. After Kolaman failed to win favor from several gods, Xiluo guided him to Waukeen, and Kolaman succeeded; Xiluo then earned an achievement for being a qualified leader.

• The Red Dragon Whelp told Xiluo that the War God’s trial required him to fight a different opponent each day for a month, and he returned to the barracks to begin.
• Abel told Xiluo that Waukeen had chosen him and assigned him a transaction worth one hundred gold coins, so Xiluo put him in charge of trading at the Points Trading Ground.
• Xiluo and Allen assassinated ten wealthy life-potion buyers, completing another of the Reaper’s trials and raising Allen to level 10.
• Alicia told Xiluo that the Moon Goddess had chosen her and required her to plant and protect at least one tree each day for two years; Xiluo directed her to plant them by the eastern city wall.
• Kolaman failed to gain favor from several gods before Xiluo suggested Waukeen; Kolaman succeeded, and Xiluo promised to arrange his trial.
• Xiluo received ten achievement points for treating the dragons under his command gently and encouraging them to improve.

Xiluo launched a population expansion plan that paid Astral Realm Walkers to bring new residents to Niro City. The long-haired hunk’s trio lured villagers with extravagant lies, and Alice later complained to Xiluo that some recruits had gone too far.

• Xiluo ordered Astral Realm Walkers to recruit people from other settlements, offering rewards for each newcomer who stayed in Niro City for a year.
• The long-haired hunk’s trio traveled to a poor town and targeted a couple struggling under their lord’s taxes.
• The long-haired hunk claimed Niro City was a paradise of plentiful food and scattered money, and the female Cleric backed up his story.
• The trio persuaded the couple and other villagers to leave town with them, relying on the villagers’ ignorance and fear to keep them from turning back.
• Alice told Xiluo that some Astral Realm Walkers had used outrageous lies to recruit people, nearly provoking a fight with the person in charge.

Xiluo and Alice expanded Niro City by attracting hundreds of new residents, prompting nearby nobles to confront them over lost subjects and tax revenue. Xiluo challenged the nobles to question the newcomers, who rallied behind Niro City’s promises and its protection; the story ended with Xiluo reassuring them that they were safe.

• Xiluo and Alice discussed the influx of residents, housing shortages, and making prisoners work to build homes.
• Over the next month, Niro City’s population grew from around eighty thousand to over eighty-seven thousand, and nearby nobles arrived to protest their subjects leaving.
• Xiluo confronted the nobles and envoy Maine, denied that Niro City had deceived anyone, and offered to let any resident who felt deceived leave.
• Xiluo led the nobles to the newcomers, where a hired speaker praised Niro City and rallied the residents around its future.
• Xiluo introduced himself as Niro City’s Guardian Dragon and promised to protect the residents and their property.

Xiluo defended Niro City’s newcomers from noble lords who claimed they had been lured away, then the city continued to grow despite the nobles’ attempts to interfere. Three years later, two visiting knights arrived and saw Niro City’s thriving population and recruitment offers.

• Xiluo confronted the noble lords after the newcomers declared they had moved to Niro City willingly, and the lords admitted the people were free to choose before leaving.
• One lord ordered Shalo to send troublemakers to Niro City and tighten patrols, while other nobles also targeted Xiluo’s Astral Realm Walkers.
• Xiluo sent the Boar-Pigfolk and Hyena-People Javelin Throwers to curb theft and disorder, and more than a hundred prisoners were sentenced to labor.
• Over three years, Niro City flourished, and two knights arrived to inspect its crowded outskirts and hear a patrolling soldier describe its discounted meat and settlement rewards.
• The soldier invited the knights to register as residents and warned them that anyone caught causing trouble would be forced to labor.

Two visiting knights explored Niro City’s Blue Star-inspired restaurants and leisure services before attending the arena’s monthly challenge, where Red Dragon Gordon Kenneth faced five human challengers. Elsewhere, an azure dragon sat outside the city reading a tiny notebook.

• Two visiting knights entered prosperous Niro City, hired a guide, and enjoyed a meal made with “Magic and Hardcore Additives” and a “Full Service.”
• After several days of sightseeing, the knights followed crowds to the arena and bought expensive tickets from a scalper.
• The knights learned that the crowd expected Red Dragon Gordon Kenneth to defeat the human challengers and placed bets on how long they would last.
• Announcer introduced five challengers, then Gordon Kenneth descended into the arena and invited them to attack him.
• Outside Niro City, an eleven-meter azure dragon sat in a mud-brick shelter and leafed through a tiny notebook.

Three years of Xiluo’s policies transformed Niro City and increased its tax revenue, while he invested heavily in his bloodlines and grew into a powerful young dragon. When Alicia told him Abel and Koraman were fighting, Xiluo flew to intervene, leaving Alicia frustrated by his rejection of her advances.

• Xiluo reviewed Niro City’s growth, including its population boom, new businesses, and tax revenue that had nearly tripled in three years.
• Xiluo tallied his treasury, bloodline investments, and the young dragons’ upkeep, noting his rising strength and his determination to keep developing as a dragon lord.
• Alicia arrived and told Xiluo that Abel and Koraman were fighting again.
• Alicia stroked Xiluo and praised his size, but Xiluo brushed off her advances and flew east to check on the fighting dragons.
• Alicia complained that Xiluo kept rejecting her, questioned his taste, and followed him.

Three years later, Xiluo watched Abel and Koraman’s rivalry culminate in Koraman’s victory, then tried to encourage Abel to keep growing stronger. Abel left with a mysterious plan to make himself safe, while Xiluo headed to the arena to collect blood from Gordon’s challenge.

• Niro City’s residents had grown accustomed to the flying young dragons and took pride in their protection as the farms outside the eastern wall expanded under Alicia’s efforts.
• Abel and Koraman fought for nearly half an hour, and Koraman won, bringing his record against Abel to 87 wins and 85 losses.
• Alicia healed the two dragons, while Koraman celebrated his victory and Abel calmly dismissed the importance of being last among the dragons.
• Xiluo tried to persuade Abel not to give up, but Abel decided he could ensure his own safety with a plan that might make him stronger than Xiluo and Gordon within twenty years.
• Xiluo left for the arena to collect dragon blood after Gordon’s challenge, noting how difficult it was to persuade dragons to bleed.

Xiluo collected Gordon’s blood after watching him defeat five challengers, then learned that he and Alice had been invited to the Royal Capital’s Congress as Key Nobles. The royal heralds asked them to depart immediately, leaving Xiluo wary but agreeing to go.

• Gordon let five challengers injure him before unleashing a savage counterattack and defeating them in the arena.
• Xiluo collected Gordon’s blood and said it would help dragonify Tīgǔ and Steel Fang, while Gordon wondered whether Xiluo had grown larger than him.
• Two knights remembered their mission after watching Xiluo fly away, and hurried to meet him and Alice at the castle.
• Alice told Xiluo that Niro City had been named among the Gerlo Kingdom’s Key Nobles and that the Royal Capital had invited them to attend Congress.
• A herald explained that the Eldest Prince had specifically requested Xiluo and Alice, then asked them to leave immediately because the knights had lost time enjoying Niro City.

Xiluo, Alice, and Andy traveled to the Royal Capital, where Alice planned to retrieve her parents’ belongings from the Sonason Depository. While Alice and Andy went to collect them, Xiluo tried and failed to recruit the depository’s owner, Omai Fritz, and then waited as a new visitor arrived with an invention.

• Xiluo and Alice prepared Niro City for their absence, then set out for the Royal Capital with Andy and two knights.
• After two days of travel, the group reached the Royal Capital and walked through its crowded outer district before entering the inner city.
• The knights brought the group to an inn, and Alice said she wanted to retrieve her parents’ belongings from the Sonason Depository.
• Xiluo, Alice, and Andy reached the depository, where Omai Fritz identified them and the guards let them inside.
• Alice and Andy followed an attendant to retrieve the belongings, while Xiluo stayed behind and unsuccessfully tried to recruit Omai to Niro City.
• A figure rushed into the depository, called Omai his teacher, and excitedly presented an invention.

Xiluo met the young Spellcaster Hadien after examining his costly Magic-Powered Jet Vehicle design, then praised his creativity and offered to guide him. After Hadien demonstrated the [Reinforcement] Magic Pattern on Xiluo’s scale, Xiluo recognized its usefulness and gave him a strange grin.

• Hadien presented his Magic-Powered Jet Vehicle blueprint to Master Omai, who pointed out its high cost, limited speed, and problems on rough roads.
• Xiluo praised Hadien’s inventive spirit and persuaded him to leave the depository for a private conversation about magic power.
• Xiluo learned that Hadien came from the Swann Family, whose firm [Wangswang] was the Royal Capital’s largest magic item trading firm.
• Hadien inscribed the [Reinforcement] Magic Pattern on one of Xiluo’s scales, making it noticeably harder.
• Xiluo praised Hadien’s skill and recognized that reinforcing his scales could provide useful armor, then smiled strangely at him.